Cortney Lake's mother to speak to reporters today

Police to provide update on homicide investigation

St. John's, N.L. — Police will provide an update on the Cortney Lake homicide investigation today.

RNC Inspector Tom Warren, the lead investigator, will speak to reporters at a news conference, set for 11:30 a.m. at RNC headquarters in St. John’s.

Following a briefing, Lake’s mother, Lisa Lake, will make a statement.

The news conference had been originally set for Monday, Nov. 6, but was called off at request of the investigative team, “as some information required additional consideration prior to its release.

Lake, 24, disappeared June 7 and police believe she was murdered. The last time she was seen was when she was getting into Philip Smith’s pickup around 7:30 p.m. that night near her Mount Pearl home.

Smith’s body was found early on Nov. 1 in a wooded area behind his father’s cabin at Bellevue Beach. The 25-year-old committed suicide.

More than 40 people — including RNC officers, members of the Avalon North Wolverines, Central Avalon ground search and rescue and the Rovers Search and Rescue — took part in an extensive day-long ground search, scouring the woods where his body was found. However, nothing turned up as evidence in the investigation.